Incandescent lamp.



G. F. SCOTT.

INUANDESOENT LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1909.

1,125,744. Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

1 1;, ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES 1800531, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,-ASSIGNOB TO WESTINGHOUSE LAMP COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

, moamansonnr LAMP.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

Application filed m 19, 1909. Serial No. 497,052.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. SGOfi'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Incandescent Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to incandescent lamps, and particularly to tubular lamps having straight filaments which extend from end to end thereof. I

The object of the present invention is to .provide a lamp of the character indicated that shall embody simple and efiective means for maintaining the filament thereof taut and out of engagement with the sides of the tubular casing.

it has been proposed to divide the straight filaments of tubular incandescent lamps into sections and to interpose suitable tension devices between adjacent filament sections, and has also been proposed to maintain the filaments out of engagement with the sides of the tubular casings by means of supports that are fixedly said casings.

In the present application, it is proposed to support the lamp filament out of engagement with the sides of the tubular casing by a means which is secured to the filament or to the tension device interposed between the sections thereof, or' to any other suitable portion of the conductor system of the lamp, the said supports being freely movable with respect to the casing. The tension devices are also so constructed as to permit them to assist in supporting the filament.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing is a side view of a lamp constructed in accordance with the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the said lamp on the line HHof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates a lamp embodying the preferred form of the invention. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the lamp shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of a lamp embodying another modification of the invention.

Arranged in end-to-end or series relation within the tubular glass casing 1 of the lamp of Fig. 1, and extending betweemand electrically connecting, the terminal-members 2 that are mounted upon opposite ends of the tubular casing, are a. plurality of sections '3,

mounted with respect to the =4 and 5 of a filamentous material, such as carbon or tungsten, that is adapted to become heated to incandescence upon the passage of an electric current therethrough. The filament sections 3, 4: and 5 are mechanically and electrically connected by means of tension devices 6 and 7 that preferably con sist of strips or wires of nickel, or other suitable material which retains its resiliency upon being heated, the said strips beingreversely bent one or more times, substantially as shown. The tension devices are adapted to maintain the filament taut, under all conditions, and to permit such expansionand contraction thereof as may result from heating and cooling. Of course, other forms of tension devices may be employed instead of that shown.

In order to maintain the filament approximately central within the tubular casing and out of engagement with the sides thereof, suitable supporting devices 8, such as threelegged or substantially Y-shaped devices illustrated, may be secured to the tension devices 6 and 7, or to the filament itself, as shown in connection with the middle section 4 of the filament, or they may be attached to the conductor system of the lamp at other desired locations, the said supporting members being freely movable within and with respect to the tubular casing 1 so as not to interfere with the ready expansion and contraction of the filament. The attaching of the supporting devices to the conductor system is regarded as an important improvement for the reason that all of the parts eontained within the tubular casing are secured together and may be inserted therein simultaneously and without difliculty during the assembling of the lamp.

Since the tension devices 6 and 7 do not possess a. high degree of conductivity, it may 1 be desirable, in some instances, to connect ment sections 11 and 12 are connected and I maintained taut by means of a tension device 13 that serves the additional function. of assisting in supporting the filament and maintaining it out of engagement with the sides of the tubular casing 1. v To this end, the device 13 consists, as before, of a strip or wire composed of nickel or other material that retains its resiliency upon'being heated,

which strip is reversely'bent a plurality of times and the reversely bent portions of 5 which are disposed obliquely or at angles with respect to each other. The tension device may comprise three reversely bent porvtions as shown in the drawings, which is the preferable form, or it may comprise any other suitable number of such reversely bent portions.

In Fig. 5 'is shown a portion of alamp embodying a spring 14 of the same kind as that embodied in the lamp shown in F ig, 3,

15 a shunt 15 of high conductivity being em-" ployed-for conducting the greater portion of the "currentfbetween the filament sections.

, The ends of the shunt 15 are connected directly'to the ends of the filament sections and it is bent to provide hooked portions near its ends, with whieh the hooked ends of the spring 14 engage- 1 f .I claim as my mventlonz 7 1: An incandescent lamp comprising a casing, a conductor extending therethrough,

and one or more supporting members se curedto the conductor and freely movable with respect to thecasing.

2. An incandescent lamp comprising a casing, a filamenttherein, separate resilient means in series wlth the filament, and a low resistanceshunt connected around the resilient means.

3. In an incandescent lamp, the combinetion with a casing, and a system of conduc tors therein comprising a plurality of .filament sections arranged end to end and resilient meansinterposed between adjacent filament sections, of means carried by the 40 system ef conductors for assisting in supporting the filament.

4;- lnan incandescent lamp, the combination with a casing, and a system 'of conductors therein comprising a plurality of filament sections arrangedend toend, and resilient. means interposed between adjacent filament sections, of means carried by the system of conductors for assisting in supporting the filament, the said means being freely movable within the casing.

5. An incandescent lamp comprising a casing, a plurality of filament sections arranged end to endtherein, and resilient means interposed between adjacent filament Y sections having laterally projecting portions that assist in supporting the filament.

6. An incandescent lamp comprising acasing, a plurality of filament sections arranged end to end therein; resilient means interposed between adjacent filament sections, and means freely movable with respect,

to the casing to assist in supporting the filament.

Y. in an incandescent lamp, the combine- @5 tion witha casing, and a filament therein, of

resilient means in series with the filament consisting of a spring bent to provide a plurality of doubled portions projecting laterally from the filament, the several doubled portions being angularly arranged with respect to each other.

8. An incandescent lamp having a filament comprising alined sections and providedwith a support for the filament intermediate said sections, said support including provided thereat with a tension-producin' support, said filament beinghooked to sai support and the-sections at each side of the intermediate point extending inopposite directions.

11. An incandescent lamp having a filament divided into a plurality of alined parts,

and-provided. with a spring support at the point of division between adjacent parts. 12. An incandescent lamp having a filament, comprising alined sections andprovided with a flexible suapport for the filament intermediate itsen 13. An incandescent lamp comprising a straight-cylindrical tube,-a filament axially contained therein, and a spring having an axial tension between its extremities to which said filament is connected and which ioe maintains the tension of the filament; said spring having a plurality of distinct oppos j mg portions of substantially arcuate formationi for contacting with the inner wall of the cylindrical tube to position said filament in the tube axis. 1

14. An incandescent lamp comprisin tube, a filament contained therein an a spring having an axial tension between its extremities, sald filament being connected to one of said extremities and maintained taut by the. spring tension, said spring having a plurality of distinct portions contacting with the inner wall of the tube at spaced intervals to position said filament in the tube 15. An relatively long tube, a plurality of relatively short filaments axially disposed therein,- a spring having the extremitiesthereof oppositely disposed, each of said extremities be- I incandescent lamp comprising a ing secured to a filament end fpfortions of said spring being in contact'with the inner wallof said tube, and said spring having an axial tension between its extremities, thereby maintaining the respective filaments on either side thereof taut. 7

16. An incandescent lamphaving a divided filament, and. provided with a flexible support for the filament at the point of divibetween the sections supported from the lamp tube in such a manner that it can move longitudinally relative to the tube.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 15 subscribed my name this 10th day of May, 1909. r

- CHARLES F; SCOTT.

Witnessesi B. B. HINEs,-

G. R. Doonmr. 

